Indoor/outdoor transition points based on satellite signal strength

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods of using satellite signal strength to determine indoor/outdoor transition points for places are disclosed herein. In some example embodiments, a computer system accesses service data and sensor data for a plurality of requests for a transportation service associated with a place, with the service data comprising pick-up data indicating a pick-up location and drop-off data indicating a drop-off location, and the sensor data comprising satellite signals indicating a pick-up path or a drop-off path, with the satellite signals each having a corresponding signal strength. The computer system determines a transition geographic location for the place based on the signal strengths of the satellite signals.

CLAIM FOR PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of U.S.application Ser. No. 16/513,093, filed Jul. 16, 2019, which claims thebenefit of priority of U.S. Application Ser. No. 62/700,180, filed Jul.18, 2018, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the technicalfield of geographic positioning for a networked computer system and,more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to systems and methodsof using satellite signal strength to determine indoor/outdoortransition points for places.

BACKGROUND

A networked computer system can receive, from user devices, a requestfor a service. The request can include data related to a place that isto be involved in the providing of the service. For example, a user maysubmit a request, via the networked computer system, to be transportedfrom a first place to a second place. The networked computer system maythen transmit a geographical location of the first place and ageographical location of the second place to a device of a serviceprovider for use in providing the service to the requester. However,although the request may include an identification of a place, thenetworked computer system may not have the corresponding geographicallocation of the place readily available. Additionally, current networkedcomputer systems suffer from poor accuracy in predicting the actualgeographical location of a place for which a user is requesting theservice. For example, even though a request may include an address or aname of a place for which an address can be determined, the address of aplace often does not accurately represent the precise location where theservice should be provided. For example, the specific indoor/outdoortransition points for the place, such as egress locations and ingresslocations, are not readily available and are technically challenging topredict.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated by way ofexample and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings,in which like reference numbers indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system environment for a networkedcomputer system, in accordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates sensor data superimposed onto map data of a place, inaccordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) in which a providerof a service may signal that the provider has started transporting arequester, in accordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a GUI in which the provider of the service may signalthat the provider has completed transporting the requester, inaccordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a time series graph plotting satellite signal strength for aclient device, which may be used to identify a transition point at whichthe client device transitions from being outdoors to being indoors, inaccordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a mapping of corresponding data for a place, inaccordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates transition geographic locations superimposed onto mapdata of a place, in accordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of determining a transitiongeographic location for a place using satellite signal strength, inaccordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates a use case in which elevation data is used todetermine that a candidate transition geographic location for a place isnot a transition geographic location for the place based on elevationdata, in accordance with the some example embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile device, in accordancewith some example embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system within which a set of instructions may be executed forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows includes illustrative systems, methods,techniques, instruction sequences, and computing machine programproducts that embody illustrative embodiments. In the followingdescription, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details areset forth in order to provide an understanding of various embodiments ofthe inventive subject matter. It will be evident, however, to thoseskilled in the art that embodiments of the inventive subject matter canbe practiced without these specific details. In general, well-knowninstruction instances, protocols, structures, and techniques have notbeen shown in detail.

The present disclosure provides technical solutions for improving theaccuracy of computer-implemented coordinate prediction. In some exampleembodiments, a technical solution involves using sensor data of mobiledevices to generate one or more transition geographic locations of aplace, where the sensor data includes a plurality of satellite signalsindicating a path of a client device of a requester, with each one ofthe plurality of satellite signals having a corresponding signalstrength. The transition geographic location(s) for the place isdetermined based on the corresponding signal strengths of the satellitesignals and a satellite signal strength threshold that is configured torepresent a point of transition between an indoor location and anoutdoor location of the place. The predicted transition geographicallocation(s) of a place may then be used in servicing requests fortransportation services associated with the place. One technical effectof the system and method of the present disclosure is to improve theaccuracy of coordinate prediction by networked computer systems.Additionally, other technical effects will be apparent from thisdisclosure as well.

In some example embodiments, operations are performed by a computersystem (or other machine) having a memory and at least one hardwareprocessor, with the operations comprising: for a place, accessingcorresponding service data for each one of a plurality of requests for atransportation service associated with the place, the transportationservice comprising transportation of a requester of the request to orfrom the place, the corresponding service data comprising anidentification of the place, pick-up data indicating a pick-up locationwhere the transportation of the requester began, and drop-off dataindicating a drop-off location where the transportation of the requesterended; accessing corresponding sensor data for each one of the pluralityof requests, the corresponding sensor data comprising a plurality ofsatellite signals indicating a path of a mobile device of the requester,the path comprising a pick-up path or a drop-off path, the pick-up pathending at the pick-up location indicated by the pick-up data, thedrop-off path beginning at the drop-off location indicated by thedrop-off data, each one of the plurality of satellite signals having acorresponding signal strength; for each one of the plurality ofrequests, determining a transition geographic location for the requestbased on the corresponding signal strengths of the satellite signalsindicating the corresponding path and a satellite signal strengththreshold, the satellite signal strength threshold being configured torepresent a point of transition between an indoor location and anoutdoor location; determining at least one transition geographiclocation for the place based on the transition geographic locations forthe plurality of requests; and storing the at least one transitiongeographic location for the place in a database in association with anidentification of the place.

In order to obtain the sensor data of a computing device (e.g., a mobiledevice) of a user (e.g., a requester or a provider), the computer system(or another computer system) requests permission from the user to trackthe location of the computing device before and after the trip of therequested transportation service. If the user agrees to permit thetracking of the location of the computing device before and after thetrip, then such sensor data of the computing device is collected andused for further processing, as disclosed herein. In this way, the userof a computing device controls what information of the user is collectedand used by the computer system, as the location of the computing deviceof a user is only tracked if the user knowledgeably consents to suchdata gathering.

In some example embodiments, the operations further comprise: receivinganother request for the transportation service associated with the placefrom a mobile device of another requester, the other request comprisingthe identification of the place; identifying the transition geographictransition for the place based on a search of the database using theidentification of the place; and transmitting one of the at least onetransition geographic location of the place to at least one of themobile device of the other requester and a mobile device of a providerof the transportation service of the other request.

In some example embodiments, the transportation service of the pluralityof requests is for transportation of the requester of the request to theplace, the determining the transition geographic location for therequest comprising determining the transition geographic location forthe request based on the corresponding signal strengths of the satellitesignals indicating the corresponding drop-off path, one of the at leastone transition geographic location for the place being stored as aningress geographic location for the place, the transportation service ofthe other request comprising transportation of the other requester tothe place, and the identifying the transition geographic location forthe place comprising identifying the one of the at least one transitiongeographic transition for the place based on the transportation serviceof the other request comprising transportation of the other requester tothe place and on the one of the at least one transition geographiclocation for the place being stored as the ingress geographic locationfor the place.

In some example embodiments, the transportation service of the pluralityof requests is for transportation of the requester of the request fromthe place, the determining the transition geographic location for eachone of the plurality of requests comprising determining the transitiongeographic location for the request based on the corresponding signalstrengths of the satellite signals indicating the corresponding pick-uppath, one of the at least one transition geographic location for theplace being stored as an egress geographic location for the place, thetransportation service of the other request comprising transportation ofthe other requester from the place, and the identifying the transitiongeographic location for the place comprising identifying one of the atleast one transition geographic transition for the place based on thetransportation service of the other request comprising transportation ofthe other requester from the place and on the one of the at least onetransition geographic location for the place being stored as the egressgeographic location for the place.

In some example embodiments, the operations further comprise selectingthe provider of the transportation service of the other request fromamongst a plurality of providers based on a geographic location of themobile device of the provider and the one of the at least one transitiongeographic location for the place.

In some example embodiments, the operations further comprise selectingthe at least one transition geographic location of the place based on atleast one of a geographic location of the mobile device of the otherrequester and a geographic location of the mobile device of theprovider, wherein the transmitting of the one of the at least onetransition geographic location of the place comprises transmitting theone of the at least one transition geographic location of the place toat least one of the mobile device of the other requester and the mobiledevice of a provider of the transportation service of the other requestfor display in association with the other request for the transportationservice.

In some example embodiments, the determining the transition geographiclocation for the request comprises determining that a candidategeographic location indicated by the path associated with the request isnot the transition geographic location based on elevation dataindicating an elevation of the mobile device of the requester at thecandidate geographic location.

In some example embodiments, the computer system comprises a remoteserver.

The methods or embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as acomputer system having one or more modules (e.g., hardware modules orsoftware modules). Such modules may be executed by one or more hardwareprocessors of the computer system. In some example embodiments, anon-transitory machine-readable storage device can store a set ofinstructions that, when executed by at least one processor, causes theat least one processor to perform the operations and method stepsdiscussed within the present disclosure.

The details of one or more variations of the subject matter describedherein are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the descriptionbelow. Other features and advantages of the subject matter describedherein will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from theclaims.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system environment for a networkedcomputer system 100, in accordance with some example embodiments. Insome example embodiments, the networked computer system 100 coordinatesthe transportation of persons and/or goods/items for a service requester110 (e.g., such as a rider) by a service provider 120 (e.g., a driver ofa vehicle). The provider 120 uses a vehicle to provide thetransportation to the requester.

In some example embodiments, the networked computer system 100 comprisesany combination of one or more of a prediction module 102, a servicemodule 104, and one or more databases 106. These modules and databasesare not native components of a generic computer system, and providestructures and functions beyond generic functions of a computer system,as further described below.

In some example embodiments, the modules 102 and 104 and the database(s)106 reside on a machine having a memory and at least one processor (notshown). In some example embodiments, the modules 102 and 104 and thedatabase(s) 106 reside on the same machine, while in other exampleembodiments, one or more of modules 102 and 104 and database(s) 106reside on separate remote machines that communicate with each other viaa network (e.g., network 130). It is contemplated that otherconfigurations are also within the scope of the present disclosure.

In some example embodiments, the requester 110 operates a client device112 that executes a requester application 114 that communicates with thenetworked computer system 100. The requester operates the requesterapplication 102 to view information about the networked computer system100, and to make a request for service from the networked computersystem 100 for a delivery or transport service (“a trip”) of therequester 110 (and, optionally, additional persons) and/or items, forexample cargo needing transport. The requester application 114determines a pick-up location within an origin location or enables therequester 110 to specify a pick-up location and/or a destinationlocation associated with the trip. An origin location and/or adestination location may be a location inputted by the requester 110 ormay correspond to the current location of the requester client device112 as determined automatically by a location determination module (notshown) in the requester client device 112, e.g., a global positioningsystem (GPS) component, a wireless networking system, or a combinationthereof. For purposes of simplicity, as described herein, an originlocation can include a pick-up location for service (i) determined bythe requester application 114 (e.g., based on the current location ofthe requester client device 112 using a GPS component), (ii) specifiedor selected by the requester 110, or (iii) determined by the networkedcomputer system 100. In some embodiments, the networked computer system100 recommends a pick-up location to a requester 100 based on historicaltrip data associated with the origin location.

According to examples herein, the requester client device 112 cantransmit a set of data to the networked computer system 100 over anetwork 130 in response to requester input or operation of the requesterapplication 114. Such data can be indicative of the requester's interestin potentially requesting service (e.g., before actually confirming orrequesting the service). For example, the requester 110 may launch therequester application 114 and specify an origin location and/or adestination location to view information about the networked computersystem 100 before making a decision on whether to request service. Therequester 110 may want to view information about the average orestimated time of arrival for pick up by a provider 120, the estimatedtime to the destination, the price, the available service types, etc.Depending on implementation, the data can include the origin and/ordestination location information, requester information (e.g.,identifier), application information (e.g., version number), deviceidentifier or type, etc. According to some examples, each time therequester 110 modifies the origin and/or destination location, therequester application 114 can generate and transmit the data to thenetworked computer system 100.

The network 130 may be any network that enables communication between oramong machines, databases, and devices (e.g., the networked computersystem 100 and the client devices 112 and 122). Accordingly, the network130 may be a wired network, a wireless network (e.g., a mobile orcellular network), or any suitable combination thereof. The network 130may include one or more portions that constitute a private network, apublic network (e.g., the Internet), or any suitable combinationthereof. Accordingly, the network 130 may include one or more portionsthat incorporate a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN),the Internet, a mobile telephone network (e.g., a cellular network), awired telephone network (e.g., a plain old telephone system (POTS)network), a wireless data network (e.g., WiFi network or WiMax network),or any suitable combination thereof. Any one or more portions of thenetwork 130 may communicate information via a transmission medium. Asused herein, “transmission medium” shall be taken to include anyintangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carryinginstructions for execution by a machine, and includes digital or analogcommunication signals or other intangible media to facilitatecommunication of such software.

Once the requester 110 confirms or orders a service via the requesterapplication 114, the requester application 114 can generate datacorresponding to a request for the service through the networkedcomputer system 100 (e.g., also referred to herein as a “trip request”).Responsive to receiving a trip request, the networked computer system100 determines the average estimated time of arrival (ETA) at thepick-up location of providers 120 whose current location is within athreshold distance of the pick-up location (e.g., providers 120 who areall within one mile of the pickup location). In some embodiments,responsive to determining that requester's ETA is within a thresholdamount of time of the average ETA of nearby available providers 120, thenetworked computer system 100 uses information from the trip request tomatch the requester 110 with an available provider 120. Depending onimplementation, the trip request can include requester or deviceinformation (e.g., a requester identifier, a device identifier), aservice type (e.g., vehicle type) and/or selected service option (suchas described herein), an origin location, a destination location, apayment profile identifier, a desired departure time, and/or other data.The networked computer system 100 selects a provider 120 from a set ofproviders, such as based on the provider's current location and status(e.g., offline, online, available, etc.) and/or information from thetrip request (e.g., service type, origin location, and/or destinationlocation), to provide the service for the requester and transport therequester 110 from the origin location to the destination location.Responsive to selecting an available provider 120, the networkedcomputer system 100 sends an invitation message to the provider clientdevice 122 inviting the provider 120 to fulfill the trip request.

In one example embodiment, the networked computer system 100periodically determines the requester's ETA at the pick-up locationbased on the topological and geospatial location of the requester clientdevice 112. In some example embodiments, the networked computer system100 selects the provider 120 based on a comparison of the requester'sETA and the provider's ETA at the pick-up location. For example, if thenetworked computer system 100 determines that the requester 110 is aboutthree minutes away from the pick-up location, the networked computersystem 100 might select a provider 120 who is also about three minutesaway even if other providers 120 have a shorter ETA.

If, after matching the requester 110 with an available provider 120, thenetworked computer system 100 determines that the requester's ETA andthe provider's ETA at the pick-up location vary by over a thresholdamount of time, the networked computer system 100 can reassign the tripto another available provider 120.

The provider 120 operates a client device 122 executing a providerapplication 124 that communicates with the networked computer system 100to provide information indicating whether the provider 120 is availableor unavailable to provide transportation services to requesters 110. Theprovider application 124 can also present information about thenetworked computer system 100 to the provider 120, such as invitationsto provide service, navigation instructions, map data, etc. In oneexample embodiment, the provider application 124 enables the provider120 to provide information regarding availability of the provider 120 bylogging into the networked computer system 100 and activating a settingindicating that they are currently available to provide service. Theprovider application 124 also provides the current location of theprovider 120 or the provider client device 122 to the networked computersystem 100. Depending on implementation, the current location may be alocation inputted by the provider 120 or may correspond to the currentlocation of the provider client device 122 as determined automaticallyby a location determination module (not shown) in the provider clientdevice 122, e.g., a GPS component, a wireless networking system, or acombination thereof. The provider application 124 further allows aprovider 120 to receive, from the networked computer system 100, aninvitation message to provide a service for a requesting requester 110,and if the provider 120 accepts via input, the provider application 124can transmit an acceptance message to the networked computer system 100.The networked computer system 100 can subsequently provide informationabout the provider 120 to the requester application 114. In anotherexample embodiment, the provider application 124 can enable the provider120 to view a list of current trip requests and to select a particulartrip request to fulfill. The provider application 124 can also receiverouting information from the networked computer system 100.

In some example embodiments, the requester client device 112 andprovider client device 122 are portable or mobile electronic devicessuch as smartphones, tablet devices, wearable computing devices (e.g.,smartwatches) or similar devices. Alternatively, the provider clientdevice 122 can correspond to an on-board computing system of a vehicle.Client devices typically have one or more processors, memory, touchscreen displays, wireless networking system (e.g., IEEE 802.11),cellular telephony support (e.g., LTE/GSM/UMTS/CDMA/HSDP A, etc.), andlocation determination capabilities. The requester client device 112 andthe provider client device 122 interact with the networked computersystem 100 through client applications configured to interact with thenetworked computer system 100. The applications 114 and 124 of therequester client device 112 and the provider client device 122,respectively, can present information received from the networkedcomputer system 100 on a requester interface, such as a map of thegeographic region, and the current location of the requester clientdevice 112 or the provider client device 122. The applications 114 and124 running on the requester client device 112 and the provider clientdevice 124 can determine the current location of the device and providethe current location to the networked computer system 100.

The networked computer system 100 is configured to provide acommunicative interface between the requester application 114, theprovider application 124, and the various modules and databases in thenetworked computer system 100. The networked computer system 100 isconfigured to receive provider availability status information andcurrent location information from the provider application 124 andupdate database(s) 106 with the availability status. The networkedcomputer system 100 is also configured to receive trip requests from therequester application 114 and creates corresponding trip records in thedatabase(s) 108. According to an example embodiment, a trip recordcorresponding to a trip request can include or be associated with a tripID, a requester ID, an origin location, a destination location, aservice type, pricing information, and/or a status indicating that thecorresponding trip request has not been processed. According to oneexample embodiment, when a provider 120 accepts the invitation messageto service the trip request for the requester 110, the trip record canbe updated with the provider's information as well as the provider'slocation and the time when the trip request was accepted. Similarly,location and time information about the service as well as the cost forthe service can be associated with the trip record.

In one example embodiment, during the trip, the networked computersystem 100 receives information (e.g., periodically) from the providerapplication 124 indicating the location of the provider's vehicle and/ortelematics information (e.g., indications of current speed,acceleration/deceleration, events, stops, and so forth). The networkedcomputer system 100 stores the information in the database(s) 108 andcan associate the information with the trip record. In some exampleembodiments, the networked computer system 100 periodically calculatesthe provider's ETA at the pick-up location and provides the provider'sETA to the requester application 114.

The networked computer system 100 determines the geospatial andtopological location of the requester client device 112 in response tothe requester 110 making a trip request through the requesterapplication 114. In one example embodiment, the requester application114 periodically transmits geospatial location information of therequester client device 112 to the networked computer system 100. Thegeospatial location information can correspond to a current locationdata point of the requester client device 112 at an instance in time.Such a location data point can be generated by a location determinationmodule (not shown) in the requester client device 112, e.g., a GPScomponent, a wireless networking system, or a combination thereof.

In some example embodiments, the requester application 114 and theprovider application 124 are configured to display map data indicating aspecific geographical location of a place, as well as navigationinstructions for the requester 110 using the requester application 114on how to navigate (e.g., walk) to the specific geographical location ofthe place and navigation instructions for the provider 120 using theprovider application 124 on how to navigate (e.g., drive) to thespecific geographical location of the place. For example, the providerapplication 124 may display, on the client device 122 of the provider120, a map that includes a graphic element that corresponds to thecurrent location of the provider 120 or the client device 122 of theprovider 120 and a graphic element that corresponds to the specificgeographical location of a place associated with a service request, suchas a place to pick up or drop off a requester 110 associated with theservice request, as well as a route from the current location of theprovider 120 or the client device 122 of the provider 120 to thespecific geographical location of the place associated with the servicerequest. Similarly, the requester application 114 may display, on theclient device 112 of the requester 110, a map that includes a graphicelement that corresponds to the current location of the requester 110 orthe client device 112 of the requester and a graphic element thatcorresponds to the specific geographical location of the placeassociated with the service request, as well as a route from the currentlocation of the requester 110 or the client device 112 of the requester110 to the specific geographical location of the place associated withthe service request.

The map data and the navigation instructions are generated based on thespecific geographical location of the place associated with the servicerequest. In some example embodiments, the corresponding map data andnavigation instructions are generated by the requester application 114and the provider application 124 using the geographical location of theplace, which is received by the requester application 114 and theprovider application 124 from the networked computer system 100. Forexample, the networked computer system 100 may store the geographicallocation of the place in association with an identifier of the place(e.g., a name of the place, an address of the place) in the database(s)106, and then transmit the geographical location of the place to therequester application 114 and the provider application 124 for use ingenerating the corresponding map data and navigation instructions thatare to be generated and displayer by the requester application 114 andthe provider application 124. In other example embodiments, thecorresponding map data and navigation instructions are generated by thenetworked computer system 100 using the geographical location of theplace stored in the database(s) 108 of the networked computer system 100in association with an identifier of the place (e.g., a name of theplace, an address of the place), and then transmitted to the requesterapplication 114 and the provider application 124 for display on clientdevice 112 of the requester 110 and the client device 122 of theprovider 120.

In some example embodiments, the geographical location of a placecomprises a geocode. A geocode comprises a spatial representation innumerical coordinates, such as latitude and longitude, of a physicallocation (e.g., a physical address). Other types of representations of aphysical location may additionally or alternatively be used as thegeographical location in providing the features disclosed herein.

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 102 is configured to,for a place, access corresponding service data for each one of aplurality of requests for a transportation service associated with theplace. The service data may be stored in and retrieved from thedatabase(s). The transportation service may comprise transportation tothe place or transportation from the place. In some example embodiments,the transportation service comprises transportation of the requester 110of the request. However, it is contemplated that the transportationservice may additionally or alternatively comprise transportation ofanother user, such as a friend, relative, or other acquaintance of therequester 110 of the request (e.g., when the requester submits a requestfor transportation service for a friend). Accordingly, although examplesdisclosed herein refer to the client device 112 of the requester 110 ofthe request, the client device of another user (not shown) may besubstituted for the client device 112 of the requester 110 forembodiments in which the other user is the one who is being transported.Additionally, the client device 122 of the provider 120 may also besubstituted for the client device 112 of the requester 110 forembodiments in which the transportation service is for transportation ofa good rather than for transportation of a person, such as inembodiments in which the transportation service is being used fordelivery of food or other products or objects.

In some example embodiments, the corresponding service data for each oneof the requests comprises an identification of the place (e.g., a nameor an address), pick-up data indicating a pick-up location where thetransportation of the requester began (e.g., a name, an address, or ageocode), and drop-off data indicating a drop-off location where thetransportation of the requester ended (e.g., a name, an address, or ageocode).

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 102 is configured toaccess corresponding sensor data for each one of the plurality ofrequests. The corresponding sensor data may comprise satellite signalsindicating at least one path of the client device 112 of the requester110. In some example embodiments, the path(s) comprise at least one of apick-up path and a drop-off path. The pick-up path ends at the pick-uplocation indicated by the pick-up data, and the drop-off path begins atthe drop-off location indicated by the drop-off data. In some exampleembodiments, the sensor data comprises a corresponding signal strengthfor each of the satellite signals.

FIG. 2 illustrates sensor data 200 superimposed onto map data 210 of aplace 212, in accordance with some example embodiments. The map data maycomprise a map representing the environment in which the place 212resides, including surrounding streets 214, sidewalks 216, and otherplaces 218. In some example embodiments, the corresponding sensor data200 for each one of the plurality of requests comprises a plurality ofgeocodes (e.g., based on satellite signals) forming the correspondingpath(s) 202 indicated by the sensor data 200. In FIG. 2, these geocodesare represented as circles and the paths 202 are represented as linesconnecting the geocodes.

Some paths 202 represent the movement of the client device 112 of therequester 110 from the place 212 to pick-up locations where therequester 110 was picked up by the provider 120 for transportation fromthe place 212 to another location in servicing the requests fortransportation service associated with the place 212. For example, inFIG. 2, such pick-up paths are enclosed within the dotted oval 204A.Other paths 202 represent the movement of the client device 112 of therequester 110 to the place 212 from drop-off locations where therequester 110 was dropped off by the provider in transportation to theplace 212 in servicing the requests for transportation serviceassociated with the place 212. For example, in FIG. 2, such drop-offpaths are enclosed within the dotted oval 204B.

FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) 300 in which aprovider 120 of a transportation service may signal that the provider120 has started transporting a requester 110, in accordance with someexample embodiments. The GUI 300 may be generated by the providerapplication 124 and display an indication 310 of the geographicallocation of the place and an indication 320 of the geographical locationof the provider 120 or the client device 122 of the provider 120. TheGUI 300 may also display supplemental information, such as anidentification 330 of a requester 110 to be picked up by the provider120, an indication 340 of the amount of time until the provider 120 ofthe client device 122 of the provider 120 arrives at the pick-uplocation, and an indication 350 that the requester 110 has been notifiedthat the provider 120 has arrived at the pick-up location. In someexample embodiments, the GUI 300 comprises a selectable user interfaceelement 360 (e.g., a button configured to be swiped or tapped by theprovider 120) configured to, in response to its selection by theprovider 120, trigger the transmission of a signal to the networkedcomputer system 100 indicating that the provider 120 is starting or hasstarted the transporting of the requester 110 in servicing the request.The networked computer system 100 may use the signal to store thegeographical location of the provider 120 (e.g., the GPS coordinates ofthe client device 122 of the provider 120) as pick-up data indicating apick-up location. The networked computer system 100 may alternativelyuse the signal to trigger a determination of the geographical locationof the client device 112 of the requester 110, using the determinedgeographical location as pick-up data indicating the pick-up location.In some example embodiments, the pick-up location is used by theprediction module 102 as the ending of the pick-up path discussed abovewith respect to FIG. 2, and the geographical location of the clientdevice 112 of the requester 110 at a time corresponding to thesubmission of the request for the transportation service via the clientdevice 112 (e.g., location of the client device 112 is determined inresponse to the request being submitted or received) is used by theprediction module 102 as the beginning of the pick-up path. Thenetworked computer system 100 may track the path of the client devicefrom the beginning of the pick-up path to the ending of the pick-uppath, such as by obtaining a series of GPS coordinates of the clientdevice 112 along the pick-up path.

FIG. 4 illustrates a GUI 400 in which the provider 120 of thetransportation service may signal that the provider 120 has completedtransporting the requester 110, in accordance with some exampleembodiments. The GUI 400 may be generated by the provider application124 and display an indication 410 of the geographical location of theplace and an indication 420 of the geographical location of the provider120 or the client device 122 of the provider 120. The GUI 400 may alsodisplay supplemental information, such as an identification 430 of arequester 110 to be dropped off by the provider 120 and an indication440 of the amount of time until the provider 120 of the client device122 of the provider 120 arrives at the drop-off location. In someexample embodiments, the GUI 400 comprises a selectable user interfaceelement 460 (e.g., a button configured to be swiped or tapped by theprovider 120) configured to, in response to its selection by theprovider 120, trigger the transmission of a signal to the networkedcomputer system 100 indicating that the provider 120 is completing orhas completed the transporting of the requester 110 in servicing therequest. The networked computer system 100 may use the signal to storethe geographical location of the provider 120 (e.g., the GPS coordinatesof the client device 122 of the provider 120) as drop-off data for theplace indicated as the drop-off location in the request submitted by therequester 110. The networked computer system 100 may alternatively usethe signal to trigger a tracking of the geographical location of theclient device 112 of the requester 110 (e.g., the GPS coordinates of theclient device 112 of the requester 110), using the first trackedgeographical location of the client device 112 as the drop-off location.In some example embodiments, this drop-off location is used by theprediction module 102 as the beginning of the drop-off path discussedabove with respect to FIG. 2. The prediction module 102 may determinethe ending of the drop-off path by determining a geographical locationof the client device 112 at a predetermined amount of time after thetransmission of the signal to the networked computer system 100indicating that the provider 120 is completing or has completed thetransporting of the requester 110 in servicing the request. Theprediction module 102 may alternatively determine the ending of thedrop-off path by determining a geographical location of the clientdevice 112 at point at which a strength of a GPS signal from the clientdevice 112 is determined to be below a minimum threshold level ofstrength. In some example embodiments, the prediction module 120interprets such a low level of strength of the GPS signal as anindication that the client device 112 has entered a building structureof the place for which the transportation service was requested.

In some example embodiments, the pick-up data corresponds togeographical locations of the client device 112 of the requester 110when the requester 110 indicates, via the requester application 114 onthe client device 112, that the provider has started transporting therequester 110 in servicing a request associated with the place 212(e.g., the provider 120 has picked up the requester 110 at the place212). Similarly, in some example embodiments, the drop-off data of theservice data corresponds to geographical locations of the client device112 of the requester 110 when the requester 110 indicates, via therequester application 114 on the client device 112, that the providerhas completed transporting the requester 110 in servicing a requestassociated with the place 212 (e.g., the provider 120 has dropped offthe requester 110 at the place 212). The requester 110 may signal thatthe provider 120 is starting or has started transporting the requester110 and may signal that the provider 120 is completing or has completedtransporting the requester via a selectable user interface elementdisplayed on a GUI via the requester application 114 on the clientdevice 112 of the requester 110, similar to how the provider 120 maysignal such service-starting points and service-completing pointsdiscussed above.

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 102 generates andstores predicted geographical locations for a plurality of places 210 inorder to build a comprehensive dataset of all places 210 everywhere withaccurate names, addresses, and geographical locations. The storedpredicted geographical locations may then be used by the networkedcomputer system 100 to provide map data and navigation instructions onthe respective client devices 112 and 122 of the requester 110 and theprovider 120, as previously discussed above with respect to FIG. 1.

In some cases, it may be desirable to provide one or more specificgeographical locations for a place that correspond to one or morespecific points where the requester 110 may transition from being insideof the place 212 to being outside of the place 212, which is referred toas an egress or exit location, as well as where the requester 110 maytransition from being outside of the place 212 to being inside of theplace 212, which is referred to as an ingress or entrance location. Forexample, in a situation in which the requester 110 is requesting to bepicked-up from the place 212, it is helpful to have a specific egresslocation for the place 212 that can be provided to the requester 110 andto the provider 120, rather than a generalized location for the entireplace 212. Similarly, in a situation in which the requester 110 isrequesting to be dropped-off at the place 212, it is helpful to have aspecific ingress location for the place 212 that can be provided to therequester 110 and to the provider 120, rather than a generalizedlocation for the entire place 212.

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 104 is configured togenerate at least one transition geographic location for the place 212using the paths indicated by the sensor data of the plurality ofrequests associated with the place 212, and to store the predictedtransition geographic location(s) in the database(s) 106 in associationwith an identification of the place 212. The transition geographicallocation(s) of the place 212 may comprise at least one geocode. However,the transition geographical location(s) of the place 212 may begenerated and stored in other forms as well.

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 102 accessescorresponding service data for each one of a plurality of requests for atransportation service associated with the place. The transportationservice comprises transportation of a requester 110 of the request to orfrom the place 212. The corresponding service data of each requestcomprises an identification of the place 212, pick-up data indicating apick-up location where the transportation of the requester 110 began,and drop-off data indicating a drop-off location where thetransportation of the requester 110 ended.

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 102 also accessescorresponding sensor data for each one of the plurality of requests. Thecorresponding sensor data of each request comprises a plurality ofsatellite signals indicating a path of a mobile device, such as theclient device 112, of the requester 110. For each request, the pathcomprising a pick-up path or a drop-off path. The pick-up path ends atthe pick-up location indicated by the pick-up data, and the drop-offpath begins at the drop-off location indicated by the drop-off data.Each one of the plurality of satellite signals has a correspondingsignal strength.

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 102 determines acorresponding transition geographic location for each one of therequests based on the corresponding signal strengths of the satellitesignals indicating the corresponding path for the request and asatellite signal strength threshold. The satellite signal strengththreshold is configured to represent a point of transition between anindoor location and an outdoor location.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provide location estimates ofa GNSS receiver, such as the client device 112 or any other mobiledevice, with varying degrees of accuracy, depending on the propagationenvironment around the GNSS receiver. In particular, when the GNSSreceiver is indoors, the signal strengths from most GNSS satellites istoo low for an accurate positioning estimate to be computed. In suchsettings, the client device 112 may employ other sources of positioning,such as WiFi or cellular networks, providing a location estimate whichis coarser than what would be provided by GNSS under favorableconditions (e.g., outdoor settings with relatively clear views of thesatellites). However, GNSS satellite signal strengths, or moreprecisely, the Signal-to-Noise Ratios (SNRs) output by the GNSSreceiver, provide valuable information even when they are too low topermit accurate GNSS-based positioning. In some example embodiments, theprediction module 102 employs a technique for deriving geometric cuesregarding the locations of the client device 112 from satellite signalstrengths alone, such as to estimate the probability that the clientdevice 112 is indoors. Furthermore, tagging crowdsourced GNSS data withthese geometric cues can be used to infer specific characteristics ofthe environment. For example, in a ridesharing context, aggregated andanonymized rider location traces associated with the place 212 (e.g., amall or an office building), can be used to infer the geographiclocations of ingresses and egresses from the place 212 usingindoor-outdoor transitions estimated from satellite signal strengths.

FIG. 5 is a time series graph 500 plotting satellite signal strength fora client device 112, which may be used to identify a transition point atwhich the client device transitions from being outdoors to beingindoors, in accordance with some example embodiments. The time seriesgraph 500 shows corresponding signal strength for the client device 112as the client device 112, over time, moves from a location outdoors(e.g., outside of a building structure) to a location indoors (e.g.,inside of a building structure). The transition point may be determinedin a variety of ways. In some example embodiments, the prediction module102 determines the transition point to be the point at which the signalstrength begins to decrease at a rate that satisfies a minimumthreshold. For example, in FIG. 12, a transition point 1210 isidentified based on the transition point 1210 being the point at whichthe signal strength begins to drop precipitously. In some exampleembodiments, the prediction module 102 determines the transition pointto be the point at which the signal strength stops decreasing at a ratethat satisfies a minimum threshold or levels off. For example, in FIG.5, a transition point 520 is identified based on the transition point520 being the point at which the signal strength stops droppingprecipitously and instead levels off. In some example embodiments, theprediction module 102 determines the transition point to be a point inbetween the point at which the signal strength begins to decrease at arate that satisfies a minimum threshold and a point at which the signalstrength stops decreasing at a rate that satisfies a minimum thresholdor levels off, such as a point in the middle of these two points (e.g.,halfway between these two points). For example, in FIG. 5, a transitionpoint 530 is identified based on the transition point 530 being halfwaybetween the transition point 510 and the transition point 520. It iscontemplated that the prediction module 102 may determine a transitionpoint in other ways as well.

Furthermore, a reversed graph of the time series graph 500 may be usedto identify a transition point at which the client device transitionsfrom being indoors to being outdoors, in accordance with some exampleembodiments. In some example embodiments, the sensor data of a pick-uppath for a place 212 is used to determine an egress transition point andthereby an egress geographic location of the place 212, while sensordata of a drop-off path for the place 212 is used to determine aningress transition point and thereby an ingress geographic location ofthe place.

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 102 is configuredidentify a transition point, as discussed above, and use the GPS data ofthe client device 112 that corresponds to that transition point todetermine a transition geographic location for the place 212, such asegress geographic location for the place 212 or an ingress geographiclocation for the place 212. For example, the prediction module 102 mayidentify the GPS location of the client device 112 that corresponds tothe time at which the client device 112 was at the transition point, andthen assign that GPS location that corresponds to the transition pointas the egress geographic location or the ingress geographic location.

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 102 is configured todetermine a corresponding transition geographic location for each one ofthe plurality of requests associated with the place 212, as discussedabove, and then determine a transition geographic location for the place212 based on the transition geographic locations for the plurality ofrequests associated with the place 212. In this respect, transitionpoint determinations for multiple requests associated with the place 212are used to improve the accuracy of overall transition pointdetermination for the place 212.

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 102 makes thetransition point determinations discussed above using an algorithm thateither predicts the probability that a satellite signal strengthcorresponds to an indoor location or predicts the probability that asatellite signal strength corresponds to an outdoor location. Forexample, the algorithm can predict the indoor probability pr(indoors)from a GNSS satellite constellation and the SNR's. In one such example,for each satellite SNR observation, the prediction module 102 computesthe probability of this satellite being blocked based on the satelliteSNRs, such as by using the following model: log[Pr[notvisible]/Pr[visible]]=max(−a, min(a, b*(SNR_dB−c)))*cos(elevation). Thecos(elevation) term bestows an elevation dependent slope and maxconfidence for the SNR model. For each time instant, the predictionmodule 102 partitions the entire satellite constellation into 5 azimuthand 2 elevation slices (10 slices in the cartesian product). Theelevation slice is made to give less weight to the horizon. Theprediction module 102 then assigns the min of log[Pr[notvisible]/Pr[visible]] as the reading for the satellite not being visiblefor each slice (min can be interpreted as a logical OR). Finally, theprediction module 102 sums the likelihoods over the 10 slices to arriveat the probability of being indoors pr(indoors). Other ways andalgorithms for predicting the indoor probability or outdoor probabilityare also within the scope of the present disclosure.

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 102 uses a heuristicto identify egress points from trips that begin from a place 212. Thisheuristic looks for indoor to outdoor transitions from pr(indoors), andthen clusters this set of transition points. An analogous algorithm foridentifying candidate egress points can be derived for ingress pointsusing trips which end at or in the place 212. In one such examplealgorithm, the prediction module 102 chooses a threshold forpr(indoors). For example, the rider is indoors if pr(indoors)>threshold,and the rider is outdoors if pr(indoors)<=threshold. As an alternativeto the threshold operation, the prediction module 102 uses a conditionalrandom field (CRF) model or a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) to determine theindoor/outdoor state of a trip. The prediction module 102 thenidentifies the indoor/outdoor transition points for each trip from thislabelled GPS trace. These identified transition points are used ascandidate transition points (e.g., candidate egress points). Theprediction module 102 clusters all of the candidate transition points,such as by using a variable centroids algorithm (e.g., bisecting k-meanswith a vector quantization stopping criterion or density-based spatialclustering of applications with noise). The prediction module 102 thenfilters the clusters by the number of candidate transition pointsassociated with the centroid to determine the transition point for theplace 212.

Coordinate prediction is susceptible to imprecision due to GPS errors,as well as activity of the requester 110 before being picked up andafter being dropped off. Therefore, in order to solve this technicalproblem of imprecise coordinate prediction, the prediction module 102may employ preprocessing and filtering techniques. In some exampleembodiments, the prediction module 102 is configured to condition theuse of the paths in generating the at least one predicted geographicallocation on a determination that an amount of the service data or thesensor data for the place 212 satisfies a minimum threshold amount, suchthat the prediction module 102 only uses the paths in generating the atleast one predicted geographical location if it is determined by theprediction module 102 that the amount of service data and/or sensor datafor the place 212 satisfied the minimum threshold amount. In someexample embodiments, the prediction module 102 runs a particle filter onthe sensor data to remove noise that could lead to imprecise coordinateprediction.

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 102 is configured toapply at least one clustering algorithm on the paths indicated by thesensor data of the plurality of request in generating the transitiongeographic locations. The clustering algorithm(s) may include clusteranalysis, grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in thesame group or cluster are more similar to each other than to those inother groups or clusters. The clustering algorithm(s) may include acentroid-based clustering or k-means clustering. However, other types ofclustering algorithms may also be used.

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 102 is configured toapply the clustering algorithm(s) to determine a peak concentration areaor point from among the candidate transition points. This determinedarea or point of concentration can be used by the prediction module 102to determine a transition geographic location for the place 212. Forexample, the prediction module 102 may assign the corresponding geocodeof the point of concentration as the transition geographic location forthe place 212.

In some example embodiments, the transition geographical location of theplace 212 corresponds to a centroid of the candidate transitionlocations. For example, the prediction module 102 may determine thecentroid of the candidate transition points of the requests associatedwith the place 212, and then identify the centroid as the transitiongeographical location of the place 212.

In some example embodiments, the sensor data is stored in associationwith an identification of the place 212 for subsequent retrieval andprocessing by the prediction module 102 in generating the transitionlocations, and the generated transition locations are stored inassociation with the identification of the place 212 for subsequentretrieval and processing by the service module 104 in providingnavigation information to a requester 110 or a provider 120 for atransportation service associated with the place 212.

FIG. 6 illustrates a mapping 600 of corresponding data for a place 212,in accordance with some example embodiments. This mapping 600 may bestored in the database(s) 106. As seen in FIG. 6, the mapping 600comprises an identification of requests (e.g., REQUEST-1, REQUEST-2, . .. ) and sensor data associated with an identifier of the place 212 towhich they correspond (e.g., ACME CORP.). The sensor data comprisesgeographical locations of paths associated with the requests (e.g.,GEOCODE-1 FOR PICK-UP PATH, GEOCODE-2 FOR PICK-UP PATH, . . . ), as wellas the corresponding signal strengths (e.g., SNR-1, SNR-2, . . . ) foreach signal on which the geographical locations of the paths are based.In some example embodiments, the mapping 600 also comprises predictedtransition geographical locations for each request (e.g., EGRESSLOCATION FOR REQUEST-1, EGRESS LOCATION FOR REQUEST-2) that have beengenerated by the prediction module 102 for the place 212 based on thesensor data associated with the request involving the place 212, as wellas the predicted transition geographical locations for the place 212(e.g., EGRESS LOCATION FOR PLACE) based on the predicted transitiongeographical locations for the requests associated with the place 212.Although FIG. 6 only shows sensor data for pick-up paths and predictedegress geographical locations, the mapping 600 may similarly includesensor data for drop-off paths and predicted ingress geographicallocations. In some example embodiments, the predicted transitiongeographical locations for the place 212 are stored in association withthe identifier of the place 212 for which they were generated and areavailable for later retrieval and use by the networked computer system100 in servicing a request for a transportation service associated withthe place 212.

In some example embodiments, the prediction module 102 is configured togenerate an ingress geographic location for the place 212 using thedrop-off paths indicated by the sensor data and excluding the pick-uppaths indicated by the sensor data, and generate an egress geographiclocation for the place 212 using the pick-up paths indicated by thesensor data and excluding the drop-off paths indicated by the sensordata, and then store the ingress geographic location as an ingressattribute or a drop-off attribute associated with the identification ofthe place 212 in the database(s) 106 and store the egress geographiclocation as an egress attribute or a pick-up attribute associated withthe identification of the place 212 in the database(s) 106, as seen inFIG. 6.

In some example embodiments, the service module 104 is configured toreceiving a request for the transportation service associated with theplace 212 from the client device 112 of another requester 110, with therequest comprising an identification of the place 212. The servicemodule 104 identifies the transition geographical location of the place212 stored in the database(s) 106 based on a search of the database(s)106 using the identification of the place 212, such as by matching theidentification of the place 212 from the request with a correspondingidentification of the place 212 in the database(s) 106, and thentransmits the identified transition geographical location of the place212 to one or more of the client device 112 of the other requester 110and the client device 122 of another provider 120 of the transportationservice of the request.

In some example embodiments, the request comprises an indication of theplace 212 as a destination, and the transportation service comprisestransportation of the requester 110 of the request to the place 212. Theservice module 104 accesses the ingress attribute (or the drop-offattribute) associated with the identification of the place 212 based onthe indication of the place 212 as a destination, identifies the ingressgeographic location based on the accessing of the ingress attribute, andtransmits the ingress geographical location of the place 212 to one ormore of the client device 112 of the requester 110 and the client device122 of the provider 120 of the transportation service of the request fordisplay in association with the request. For example, the ingressgeographical location of the place 212 may be used to display navigationinstructions or guidance on the client device 112 and on the clientdevice 122.

In some example embodiments, the request comprises an indication of theplace 212 as an origin, and the other transportation service comprisestransportation of the requester 110 of the request from the place 212.The service module 104 accesses the egress attribute (or the pick-upattribute) associated with the identification of the place 212 based onthe indication of the place 212 as an origin, identifies the egressgeographic location based on the accessing the egress attribute, andtransmits the egress geographical location of the place 212 to one ormore of the client device 112 of the requester 110 and the client device122 of the provider 120 of the transportation service of the request fordisplay in association with the request. For example, the egressgeographical location of the place 212 may be used to display navigationinstructions or guidance on the client device 112 and on the clientdevice 122.

FIG. 7 illustrates transition geographic locations 710 superimposed ontomap data 210 of a place 212, in accordance with some exampleembodiments. In FIG. 7, the transition geographic locations 710 comprisean egress geographic location 710, which has been determined based onthe pick-up paths 204A in FIG. 2 and their corresponding satellitesignal strengths, and an ingress geographic location 710B, which hasbeen determined based on the drop-off paths 204B in FIG. 2 and theircorresponding satellite signal strengths.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1100 of determining atransition geographic location for the place 212 using satellite signalstrength, in accordance with some example embodiments. The method 800can be performed by processing logic that can comprise hardware (e.g.,circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.),software (e.g., instructions run on a processing device), or acombination thereof. In one example embodiment, the method 800 isperformed by the networked computer system 100 of FIG. 1, or anycombination of one or more of its components or modules (e.g.,prediction module 102, service module 104), as described above.

At operation 810, the prediction module 102, for a place 212, accessescorresponding service data for each one of a plurality of requests for atransportation service associated with the place 212. In some exampleembodiments, the transportation service comprises transportation of arequester 110 of the request to or from the place 212, and thecorresponding service data comprises an identification of the place 212,pick-up data indicating a pick-up location where the transportation ofthe requester 110 began, and drop-off data indicating a drop-offlocation where the transportation of the requester 110 ended.

At operation 820, the prediction module 102 accesses correspondingsensor data for each one of the plurality of requests. In some exampleembodiments, the corresponding sensor data comprises a plurality ofsatellite signals indicating a path of a mobile device, or other clientdevice 112, of the requester 110. The path comprises a pick-up pathending at the pick-up location indicated by the pick-up data or adrop-off path beginning at the drop-off location indicated by thedrop-off data. Each one of the plurality of satellite signals has acorresponding signal strength.

At operation 830, the prediction module 102, for each one of theplurality of requests, determines a transition geographic location forthe request based on the corresponding signal strengths of the satellitesignals indicating the corresponding path and a threshold satellitesignal strength. The threshold satellite signal strength is configuredto represent a point of transition between an indoor location and anoutdoor location. In some example embodiments, the determination of thetransition geographic location for the request comprises determiningthat a candidate geographic location indicated by the path associatedwith the request is not the transition geographic location based onelevation data indicating an elevation of the mobile device of therequester at the candidate geographic location.

At operation 840, the prediction module 102 determines a transitiongeographic location for the place 212 based on the transition geographiclocations for the plurality of requests. In some example embodiments,the prediction module 102 uses a clustering algorithm and a centroid ofthe transition geographic locations for the plurality of requests todetermine the transition geographic location for the place 212.

At operation 850, the prediction module 102 stores the transitiongeographic location for the place 212 in a database in association withan identification of the place 212. In some example embodiments, thetransition geographic location for the place 212 is stored with metadataidentifying whether the transition geographic location is an egressgeographic location or an ingress geographic location in order to helpthe service module 104 select the appropriate transition geographiclocation for the place 212 to use in servicing another requestassociated with the place 212. For example, in situations in which twotransition geographic locations, an egress location and an ingresslocation, are stored in association with the place, the service module104 selects the egress geographic location when servicing a request fortransportation from the place 212, and the service module 104 selectsthe ingress geographic location when servicing a request fortransportation to the place 212.

At operation 860, the service module 104 receives another request forthe transportation service associated with the place 212 from a mobiledevice, or another client device 112, of another requester 110. In someexample embodiments, the transportation service comprises transportationof the other requester 110 of the request to or from the place 212, andthe other request comprises the identification of the place 212.

At operation 870, the service module 104 identifies the transitiongeographic transition for the place 212 based on a search of thedatabase using the identification of the place 212. In some exampleembodiments, in situations in which an egress location and an ingresslocation are stored in association with the place 212, the servicemodule 104 selects the egress geographic location when the request isfor transportation from the place 212, and the service module 104selects the ingress geographic location when the request is fortransportation to the place 212.

At operation 880, the service module 104 transmits the transitiongeographic location of the place 212 to one or more of the mobile deviceof the other requester 110 and a mobile device of a provider 120 of thetransportation service of the other request. For example, the servicemodule 104 may transmit the transition geographic location of the place212 along with or as part of navigation instructions to the clientdevice 112 of the other requester 110 or to the client device 122 of theother provider 120. In some example embodiments, the service module 104uses the transition geographic location of the place 212 to select whichprovider 120 to use to service the other request, such as by selectingthe provider 120 of the transportation service of the other request fromamongst a plurality of providers 120 based on a geographic location ofthe client device 122 of the provider 120 and the transition geographiclocation for the place 212, for example, by finding the provider 120with the client device 122 that is closest to the transition geographiclocation or that will take the shortest amount of time to travel to thetransition geographic location.

In some example embodiments, when there are multiple transitiongeographic locations for the place 212, the service module 104 selectsone of the transition geographic locations of the place 212 based on oneor more of a geographic location of the client device 112 of the otherrequester 110 and a geographic location of the client device 122 of theother provider 120, such as by selecting the transition geographiclocation of the place 212 that is the closest to the client device 112of the other requester 110 or selecting the transition geographiclocation that is the closest to the client device 122 of the otherprovider 120. The service module 104 then transmits the selectedtransition geographic location of the place 212 to one or more of theclient device 112 of the other requester 110 and the client device 122of the other provider 120 of the transportation service of the otherrequest for display in association with the other request for thetransportation service. For example, the service module 104 may transmitthe transition geographic location of the place 212 along with or aspart of navigation instructions to the client device 112 of the otherrequester 110 or to the client device 122 of the other provider 120.

It is contemplated that any of the other features described within thepresent disclosure can be incorporated into the method 800.

A technical challenge arises in situations in which a particulargeographic location is incorrectly identified as a transition geographiclocation based on corresponding signal strength data. For example, insituations in which the client device 112 is located near a window on asecond level or higher of a building, the corresponding signal strengthfor that particular location may cause the prediction module 102 toincorrectly identify that particular location as a transition geographiclocation, even though the second level window may not be desirable as anegress geographic location, an ingress geographic location, or any othertype of transition geographic location. Therefore, in some exampleembodiments, the prediction module 102 is configured to correct aninitial determination of a particular geographic location being atransition geographic location based on elevation data.

FIG. 9 illustrates a use case in which elevation data is used todetermine that a candidate transition geographic location for the place212 is not a transition geographic location for the place 212 based onelevation data, in accordance with the some example embodiments. FIG. 9shows three different requesters 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 with theirrespective client devices 112-1, 112-2, and 112-3 positioned atdifferent locations with respect to the place 212. In FIG. 9, the place212 comprises a two-story building, with the requester 110-1 and thecorresponding client device 112-1 positioned at a geographic locationoutside of the building, the requester 110-2 and the correspondingclient device 112-2 positioned at a geographic location inside thebuilding on the first level of the building, and the requester 110-3 andthe corresponding client device 112-3 positioned at a geographiclocation inside the building on the second level of the building next toa window 930 of the building.

In one example, the prediction module 102 uses the satellite signalstrengths between a plurality of satellites 920 and each one of theclient devices 112 to determine whether each one of the client devices112 is positioned at a transition geographic location for the place 212,such as by using the techniques discussed herein with respect todetermining a transition geographic location based on satellite signalstrength data. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the client device 112-1of the requester 110-1 is positioned outside of the place 212 at ageographic location where all three satellites 920-1, 920-2, and 920-3are visible, as indicated in FIG. 9 by the dotted lines from thesatellites 920-1, 920-2, and 920-3 to the client device 112-1. Theclient device 112-2 of the requester 110-2 is positioned inside of theplace 212 at a geographic location where none of the three satellites920-1, 920-2, and 920-3 are visible, as indicated in FIG. 9 by no dottedlines from the satellites 920-1, 920-2, and 920-3 to the client device112-2. The client device 112-3 of the requester 110-3 is positionedoutside of the place 212 at a geographic location where two of the threesatellites 920-1, 920-2, and 920-3 are visible, as indicated in FIG. 9by the dotted lines from the satellites 920-1 and 920-2, but not 920-3,to the client device 112-3. Even though the satellite signal strengthdata corresponding to the geographic location of the client device 112-3may satisfy the threshold satellite signal strength representing a pointof transition between an indoor location and an outdoor location of theplace 212 due the fact that the client device 112-3 is positioned nextto the window 920, the prediction module 102 uses elevation data of theclient device 112-3 at that geographic location, such as elevation datafrom a barometer or altimeter on the client device 112-3, to determinethat the client device 112-3 is on the second level of the place 212 atthat geographic location, and therefore concludes that the geographiclocation should not be identified as an egress geographic location, aningress geographic location, or another type of transition geographiclocation, or concludes that the geographic location should not be usedin determining such transition geographic location.

It is contemplated that any features of any embodiments disclosed hereincan be combined with any other features of any other embodimentsdisclosed herein. Accordingly, these any such hybrid embodiments arewithin the scope of the present disclosure.

Example Mobile Device

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile device 1000, accordingto an example embodiment. The mobile device 1000 can include a processor1002. The processor 1002 can be any of a variety of different types ofcommercially available processors suitable for mobile devices 1000 (forexample, an XScale architecture microprocessor, a Microprocessor withoutInterlocked Pipeline Stages (MIPS) architecture processor, or anothertype of processor). A memory 1004, such as a random access memory (RAM),a Flash memory, or other type of memory, is typically accessible to theprocessor 1002. The memory 1004 can be adapted to store an operatingsystem (OS) 1006, as well as application programs 1008, such as a mobilelocation-enabled application that can provide location-based services(LBSs) to a user. The processor 1002 can be coupled, either directly orvia appropriate intermediary hardware, to a display 1010 and to one ormore input/output (I/O) devices 1012, such as a keypad, a touch panelsensor, a microphone, and the like. Similarly, in some embodiments, theprocessor 1002 can be coupled to a transceiver 1014 that interfaces withan antenna 1016. The transceiver 1014 can be configured to both transmitand receive cellular network signals, wireless data signals, or othertypes of signals via the antenna 1016, depending on the nature of themobile device 1000. Further, in some configurations, a GPS receiver 1018can also make use of the antenna 1016 to receive GPS signals.

Modules, Components and Logic

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute eithersoftware modules (e.g., code embodied (1) on a non-transitorymachine-readable medium or (2) in a transmission signal) orhardware-implemented modules. A hardware-implemented module is tangibleunit capable of performing certain operations and may be configured orarranged in a certain manner. In example embodiments, one or morecomputer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system)or one or more processors may be configured by software (e.g., anapplication or application portion) as a hardware-implemented modulethat operates to perform certain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware-implemented module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware-implementedmodule may comprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanentlyconfigured (e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC)) to perform certain operations. A hardware-implementedmodule may also comprise programmable logic or circuitry (e.g., asencompassed within a programmable processor) that is temporarilyconfigured by software to perform certain operations. It will beappreciated that the decision to implement a hardware-implemented modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware-implemented module” should be understoodto encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired) or temporarily ortransitorily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certainmanner and/or to perform certain operations described herein.Considering embodiments in which hardware-implemented modules aretemporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware-implemented modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware-implementedmodules comprise a processor configured using software, the processormay be configured as respective different hardware-implemented modulesat different times. Software may accordingly configure a processor, forexample, to constitute a particular hardware-implemented module at oneinstance of time and to constitute a different hardware-implementedmodule at a different instance of time.

Hardware-implemented modules can provide information to, and receiveinformation from, other hardware-implemented modules. Accordingly, thedescribed hardware-implemented modules may be regarded as beingcommunicatively coupled. Where multiple of such hardware-implementedmodules exist contemporaneously, communications may be achieved throughsignal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) thatconnect the hardware-implemented modules. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware-implemented modules are configured or instantiated atdifferent times, communications between such hardware-implementedmodules may be achieved, for example, through the storage and retrievalof information in memory structures to which the multiplehardware-implemented modules have access. For example, onehardware-implemented module may perform an operation, and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware-implemented module may then,at a later time, access the memory device to retrieve and process thestored output. Hardware-implemented modules may also initiatecommunications with input or output devices, and can operate on aresource (e.g., a collection of information).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented. For example, at least some of the operations of amethod may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented modules. The performance of certain of theoperations may be distributed among the one or more processors, not onlyresiding within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The one or more processors may also operate to support performance ofthe relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a“software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of theoperations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples ofmachines including processors), these operations being accessible via anetwork (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces(e.g., Application Program Interfaces (APIs).)

Electronic Apparatus and System

Example embodiments may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry,or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them.Example embodiments may be implemented using a computer program product,e.g., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier,e.g., in a machine-readable medium for execution by, or to control theoperation of, data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor,a computer, or multiple computers.

A computer program can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed inany form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, subroutine,or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiplecomputers at one site or distributed across multiple sites andinterconnected by a communication network.

In example embodiments, operations may be performed by one or moreprogrammable processors executing a computer program to performfunctions by operating on input data and generating output. Methodoperations can also be performed by, and apparatus of exampleembodiments may be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry,e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC).

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. Inembodiments deploying a programmable computing system, it will beappreciated that both hardware and software architectures meritconsideration. Specifically, it will be appreciated that the choice ofwhether to implement certain functionality in permanently configuredhardware (e.g., an ASIC), in temporarily configured hardware (e.g., acombination of software and a programmable processor), or a combinationof permanently and temporarily configured hardware may be a designchoice. Below are set out hardware (e.g., machine) and softwarearchitectures that may be deployed, in various example embodiments.

Example Machine Architecture and Machine-Readable Medium

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an example computer system 1100 on whichmethodologies described herein may be executed, in accordance with anexample embodiment. In alternative embodiments, the machine operates asa standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to othermachines. In a networked deployment, the machine may operate in thecapacity of a server or a client machine in server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine may be a personal computer (PC), atablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), acellular telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge,or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further,while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 1100 includes a processor 1102 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) orboth), a main memory 1104 and a static memory 1106, which communicatewith each other via a bus 1108. The computer system 1100 may furtherinclude a graphics display unit 1110 (e.g., a liquid crystal display(LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 1100 alsoincludes an alphanumeric input device 1112 (e.g., a keyboard or atouch-sensitive display screen), a user interface (UI) navigation device1114 (e.g., a mouse), a storage unit 1116, a signal generation device1118 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device 1120.

Machine-Readable Medium

The storage unit 1116 includes a machine-readable medium 1122 on whichis stored one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g.,software) 1124 embodying or utilized by any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 1124 mayalso reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory1104 and/or within the processor 1102 during execution thereof by thecomputer system 1100, the main memory 1104 and the processor 1102 alsoconstituting machine-readable media.

While the machine-readable medium 1122 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” may include asingle medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributeddatabase, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one ormore instructions 1124 or data structures. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any tangible medium that iscapable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions (e.g.,instructions 1124) for execution by the machine and that cause themachine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the presentdisclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying datastructures utilized by or associated with such instructions. The term“machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but notbe limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media.Specific examples of machine-readable media include non-volatile memory,including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), and flash memory devices;magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks;magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

Transmission Medium

The instructions 1124 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 1126 using a transmission medium. Theinstructions 1124 may be transmitted using the network interface device1120 and any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g.,HTTP). Examples of communication networks include a local area network(“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), the Internet, mobile telephonenetworks, Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) networks, and wireless datanetworks (e.g., WiFi and WiMax networks). The term “transmission medium”shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine,and includes digital or analog communications signals or otherintangible media to facilitate communication of such software.

Executable Instructions and Machine-Storage Medium

The various memories (i.e., 1104, 1106, and/or memory of theprocessor(s) 1102) and/or storage unit 1116 may store one or more setsof instructions and data structures (e.g., software) 1124 embodying orutilized by any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein. These instructions, when executed by processor(s) 1102 causevarious operations to implement the disclosed embodiments.

As used herein, the terms “machine-storage medium,” “device-storagemedium,” “computer-storage medium” (referred to collectively as“machine-storage medium 1122”) mean the same thing and may be usedinterchangeably in this disclosure. The terms refer to a single ormultiple storage devices and/or media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that storeexecutable instructions and/or data, as well as cloud-based storagesystems or storage networks that include multiple storage apparatus ordevices. The terms shall accordingly be taken to include, but not belimited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media,including memory internal or external to processors. Specific examplesof machine-storage media, computer-storage media, and/or device-storagemedia 1122 include non-volatile memory, including by way of examplesemiconductor memory devices, e.g., erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory(EEPROM), FPGA, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such asinternal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; andCD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The terms machine-storage media,computer-storage media, and device-storage media 1122 specificallyexclude carrier waves, modulated data signals, and other such media, atleast some of which are covered under the term “signal medium” discussedbelow.

Signal Medium

The term “signal medium” or “transmission medium” in this disclosureshall be taken to include any form of modulated data signal, carrierwave, and so forth. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal thathas one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a matteras to encode information in the signal.

Computer Readable Medium

The terms “machine-readable medium,” “computer-readable medium” and“device-readable medium” mean the same thing and may be usedinterchangeably in this disclosure. The terms are defined to includeboth machine-storage media and signal media. Thus, the terms includeboth storage devices/media and carrier waves/modulated data signals.

NUMBERED EXAMPLES OF EMBODIMENTS

The following numbered examples are embodiments.

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

-   -   for a place, accessing, by a computer system having at least one        hardware processor, corresponding service data for each one of a        plurality of requests for a transportation service associated        with the place, the transportation service comprising        transportation of a requester of the request to or from the        place, the corresponding service data comprising an        identification of the place, pick-up data indicating a pick-up        location where the transportation of the requester began, and        drop-off data indicating a drop-off location where the        transportation of the requester ended;    -   accessing, by the computer system, corresponding sensor data for        each one of the plurality of requests, the corresponding sensor        data comprising a plurality of satellite signals indicating a        path of a mobile device of the requester, the path comprising a        pick-up path or a drop-off path, the pick-up path ending at the        pick-up location indicated by the pick-up data, the drop-off        path beginning at the drop-off location indicated by the        drop-off data, each one of the plurality of satellite signals        having a corresponding signal strength;    -   for each one of the plurality of requests, determining, by the        computer system, a transition geographic location for the        request based on the corresponding signal strengths of the        satellite signals indicating the corresponding path and a        satellite signal strength threshold, the satellite signal        strength threshold being configured to represent a point of        transition between an indoor location and an outdoor location;    -   determining, by the computer system, at least one transition        geographic location for the place based on the transition        geographic locations for the plurality of requests; and    -   storing, by the computer system, the at least one transition        geographic location for the place in a database in association        with an identification of the place.

2. The computer-implemented method of example 1, further comprising:

-   -   receiving, by the computer system, another request for the        transportation service associated with the place from a mobile        device of another requester, the other request comprising the        identification of the place;    -   identifying, by the computer system, the transition geographic        transition for the place based on a search of the database using        the identification of the place; and    -   transmitting, by the computer system, one of the at least one        transition geographic location of the place to at least one of        the mobile device of the other requester and a mobile device of        a provider of the transportation service of the other request.

3. The computer-implemented method of example 2, wherein:

-   -   the transportation service of the plurality of requests is for        transportation of the requester of the request to the place;    -   the determining the transition geographic location for the        request comprising determining the transition geographic        location for the request based on the corresponding signal        strengths of the satellite signals indicating the corresponding        drop-off path;    -   one of the at least one transition geographic location for the        place being stored as an ingress geographic location for the        place;    -   the transportation service of the other request comprising        transportation of the other requester to the place; and    -   the identifying the transition geographic location for the place        comprising identifying the one of the at least one transition        geographic transition for the place based on the transportation        service of the other request comprising transportation of the        other requester to the place and on the one of the at least one        transition geographic location for the place being stored as the        ingress geographic location for the place.

4. The computer-implemented method of example 2, wherein:

-   -   the transportation service of the plurality of requests is for        transportation of the requester of the request from the place;    -   the determining the transition geographic location for each one        of the plurality of requests comprising determining the        transition geographic location for the request based on the        corresponding signal strengths of the satellite signals        indicating the corresponding pick-up path;    -   one of the at least one transition geographic location for the        place being stored as an egress geographic location for the        place;    -   the transportation service of the other request comprising        transportation of the other requester from the place; and        the identifying the transition geographic location for the place        comprising identifying one of the at least one transition        geographic transition for the place based on the transportation        service of the other request comprising transportation of the        other requester from the place and on the one of the at least        one transition geographic location for the place being stored as        the egress geographic location for the place.

5. The computer-implemented method of example 4, further comprisingselecting, by the computer system, the provider of the transportationservice of the other request from amongst a plurality of providers basedon a geographic location of the mobile device of the provider and theone of the at least one transition geographic location for the place.

6. The computer-implemented method of example 4, further comprisingselecting, by the computer system, the at least one transitiongeographic location of the place based on at least one of a geographiclocation of the mobile device of the other requester and a geographiclocation of the mobile device of the provider, wherein the transmittingof the one of the at least one transition geographic location of theplace comprises transmitting the one of the at least one transitiongeographic location of the place to at least one of the mobile device ofthe other requester and the mobile device of a provider of thetransportation service of the other request for display in associationwith the other request for the transportation service.

7. The computer-implemented method of any of examples 1 to 6, whereinthe determining the transition geographic location for the requestcomprises determining that a candidate geographic location indicated bythe path associated with the request is not the transition geographiclocation based on elevation data indicating an elevation of the mobiledevice of the requester at the candidate geographic location.

8. The computer-implemented method of any one of examples 1 to 7,wherein the computer system comprises a remote server.

9. A system comprising:

-   -   at least one hardware processor; and    -   a machine-readable medium embodying a set of instructions that,        when executed by the at least one hardware processor, cause the        at least one hardware processor to perform the method of any one        of examples 1 to 8.

10. A machine-readable medium embodying a set of instructions that, whenexecuted by the at least one hardware processor, cause the at least onehardware processor to perform the method of any one of examples 1 to 8.

Although an embodiment has been described with reference to specificexample embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications andchanges may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a parthereof, show by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specificembodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. Theembodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enablethose skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein.Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated toachieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodimentsshown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations orvariations of various embodiments. Combinations of the aboveembodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein,will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the abovedescription.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising: for aplace, accessing, by a computer system having at least one hardwareprocessor, corresponding service data for each one of a plurality ofrequests for a transportation service associated with the place, thetransportation service comprising delivery of an item to or from theplace, the corresponding service data comprising an identification ofthe place and at least one of pick-up data or drop-off data, the pick-updata indicating a pick-up location where the delivery of the item began,and the drop-off data indicating a drop-off location where the deliveryof the item ended; accessing, by the computer system, correspondingsensor data for each one of the plurality of requests, the correspondingsensor data comprising a plurality of satellite signals indicating apath of a mobile device of a provider of the transportation servicecorresponding to the one of the plurality of requests, the pathcomprising a pick-up path or a drop-off path, the pick-up path ending atthe pick-up location indicated by the pick-up data, the drop-off pathbeginning at the drop-off location indicated by the drop-off data, eachone of the plurality of satellite signals having a corresponding signalstrength; for each one of the plurality of requests, determining, by thecomputer system, a transition geographic location for the request basedon the corresponding signal strengths of the satellite signalsindicating the corresponding path and a satellite signal strengththreshold, the satellite signal strength threshold being configured torepresent a point of transition between an indoor location and anoutdoor location; determining, by the computer system, at least onetransition geographic location for the place based on the transitiongeographic locations for the plurality of requests; and storing, by thecomputer system, the at least one transition geographic location for theplace in a database in association with an identification of the place.2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, by the computer system, another request for thetransportation service associated with the place from a mobile device ofanother requester, the other request comprising the identification ofthe place; identifying, by the computer system, the transitiongeographic transition for the place based on a search of the databaseusing the identification of the place; and transmitting, by the computersystem, one of the at least one transition geographic location of theplace to at least one of the mobile device of the other requester and amobile device of a provider of the transportation service of the otherrequest.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein: thedetermining the transition geographic location for the request comprisesdetermining the transition geographic location for the request based onthe corresponding signal strengths of the satellite signals indicatingthe corresponding drop-off path; and one of the at least one transitiongeographic location for the place is stored as an ingress geographiclocation for the place.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,wherein: the determining the transition geographic location for each oneof the plurality of requests comprises determining the transitiongeographic location for the request based on the corresponding signalstrengths of the satellite signals indicating the corresponding pick-uppath; and one of the at least one transition geographic location for theplace is stored as an egress geographic location for the place.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising selecting, bythe computer system, the provider of the transportation service of theother request from amongst a plurality of providers based on ageographic location of the mobile device of the provider and the one ofthe at least one transition geographic location for the place.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the item comprises food.7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computersystem comprises a remote server.
 8. A system comprising: at least onehardware processor; and a machine-readable medium embodying a set ofinstructions that, when executed by the at least one hardware processor,cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: for aplace, accessing corresponding service data for each one of a pluralityof requests for a transportation service associated with the place, thetransportation service comprising delivery of an item to or from theplace, the corresponding service data comprising an identification ofthe place and at least one of pick-up data or drop-off data, the pick-updata indicating a pick-up location where the delivery of the item began,and the drop-off data indicating a drop-off location where the deliveryof the item ended; accessing corresponding sensor data for each one ofthe plurality of requests, the corresponding sensor data comprising aplurality of satellite signals indicating a path of a mobile device of aprovider of the transportation service corresponding to the one of theplurality of requests, the path comprising a pick-up path or a drop-offpath, the pick-up path ending at the pick-up location indicated by thepick-up data, the drop-off path beginning at the drop-off locationindicated by the drop-off data, each one of the plurality of satellitesignals having a corresponding signal strength; for each one of theplurality of requests, determining a transition geographic location forthe request based on the corresponding signal strengths of the satellitesignals indicating the corresponding path and a satellite signalstrength threshold, the satellite signal strength threshold beingconfigured to represent a point of transition between an indoor locationand an outdoor location; determining at least one transition geographiclocation for the place based on the transition geographic locations forthe plurality of requests; and storing the at least one transitiongeographic location for the place in a database in association with anidentification of the place.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein theoperations further comprise: receiving another request for thetransportation service associated with the place from a mobile device ofanother requester, the other request comprising the identification ofthe place; identifying the transition geographic transition for theplace based on a search of the database using the identification of theplace; and transmitting one of the at least one transition geographiclocation of the place to at least one of the mobile device of the otherrequester and a mobile device of a provider of the transportationservice of the other request.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein: thedetermining the transition geographic location for the request comprisesdetermining the transition geographic location for the request based onthe corresponding signal strengths of the satellite signals indicatingthe corresponding drop-off path; and one of the at least one transitiongeographic location for the place is stored as an ingress geographiclocation for the place.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein: thedetermining the transition geographic location for each one of theplurality of requests comprises determining the transition geographiclocation for the request based on the corresponding signal strengths ofthe satellite signals indicating the corresponding pick-up path; and oneof the at least one transition geographic location for the place isstored as an egress geographic location for the place.
 12. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the operations further comprise selecting the providerof the transportation service of the other request from amongst aplurality of providers based on a geographic location of the mobiledevice of the provider and the one of the at least one transitiongeographic location for the place.
 13. The system of claim 8, whereinthe item comprises food.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein the computersystem comprises a remote server.
 15. A non-transitory machine-readablemedium embodying a set of instructions that, when executed by at leastone hardware processor, cause the processor to perform operationscomprising: for a place, accessing corresponding service data for eachone of a plurality of requests for a transportation service associatedwith the place, the transportation service comprising delivery of anitem to or from the place, the corresponding service data comprising anidentification of the place and at least one of pick-up data or drop-offdata, the pick-up data indicating a pick-up location where the deliveryof the item began, and the drop-off data indicating a drop-off locationwhere the delivery of the item ended; accessing corresponding sensordata for each one of the plurality of requests, the corresponding sensordata comprising a plurality of satellite signals indicating a path of amobile device of a provider of the transportation service correspondingto the one of the plurality of requests, the path comprising a pick-uppath or a drop-off path, the pick-up path ending at the pick-up locationindicated by the pick-up data, the drop-off path beginning at thedrop-off location indicated by the drop-off data, each one of theplurality of satellite signals having a corresponding signal strength;for each one of the plurality of requests, determining a transitiongeographic location for the request based on the corresponding signalstrengths of the satellite signals indicating the corresponding path anda satellite signal strength threshold, the satellite signal strengththreshold being configured to represent a point of transition between anindoor location and an outdoor location; determining at least onetransition geographic location for the place based on the transitiongeographic locations for the plurality of requests; and storing the atleast one transition geographic location for the place in a database inassociation with an identification of the place.
 16. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations furthercomprise: receiving another request for the transportation serviceassociated with the place from a mobile device of another requester, theother request comprising the identification of the place; identifyingthe transition geographic transition for the place based on a search ofthe database using the identification of the place; and transmitting oneof the at least one transition geographic location of the place to atleast one of the mobile device of the other requester and a mobiledevice of a provider of the transportation service of the other request.17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein: thedetermining the transition geographic location for the request comprisesdetermining the transition geographic location for the request based onthe corresponding signal strengths of the satellite signals indicatingthe corresponding drop-off path; and one of the at least one transitiongeographic location for the place is stored as an ingress geographiclocation for the place.
 18. The non-transitory machine-readable mediumof claim 16, wherein: the determining the transition geographic locationfor each one of the plurality of requests comprises determining thetransition geographic location for the request based on thecorresponding signal strengths of the satellite signals indicating thecorresponding pick-up path; and one of the at least one transitiongeographic location for the place is stored as an egress geographiclocation for the place.
 19. The non-transitory machine-readable mediumof claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise selecting theprovider of the transportation service of the other request from amongsta plurality of providers based on a geographic location of the mobiledevice of the provider and the one of the at least one transitiongeographic location for the place.
 20. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the item comprises food.